Just Keep Pushing
by Tarafina
Summary: She had a small human being trying to make an exit through a very small hole! Unless she wanted to do the impossible and suck him back in, her only choice was pushing.


**Title**: Just Keep Pushing  
**Category**: Smallville  
**Genre**: Humor/Family  
**Ship**: Chloe/Jimmy  
**Rating**: PG13  
**Challenge**: Defying Mythos – Battle for the Best: Challenge #2  
**OneShot Challenge**: #4 – Giving Birth  
**Word Count**: 1,708  
**Summary**: She had a small human being trying to make an exit through a very small hole! Unless she wanted to do the impossible and suck him back in, her only _choice _was pushing.

**_Just Keep Pushing  
_**-Challenge #2-

"Push!"

Oh, but she hated that word!

As if she needed to be told; like she couldn't _tell _that pushing was an issue here. She had a small human being trying to make an exit through a very small hole! Unless she wanted to do the impossible and suck him back in, her only _choice _was pushing. And her soon-to-be-born son was not patient; he must have gotten that from his mother, because Jimmy still looked excited after twelve hours of intense labor. Then again, all he had to do was make those stupid breathing faces at her and say 'hee, hee, hoo," at her as if it was supposed to _help_.

"You're doing good," he reassured, stroking her sticky hair back from her face.

"Good was eleven and a half hours ago," she argued, panting. "Now I'm just _coping_…"

He smiled crookedly. "You got this Chloe… You're the strongest person I know."

Given he knew Clark, she thought he might be embellishing her strength, but then she couldn't see Clark going through this kind of pain for this long, so maybe he had a point.

Twelve hours ago, she'd been sitting on the couch, debating what pickles might taste like with strawberry ice cream when an ache struck her lower back like no other. Hunched over, she reached for it, rubbing as if she thought she could push the pain away. It was three weeks before her due date; she didn't think it could be anything more than a cramp. She'd been doing _entirely _too much sitting lately thanks to Jimmy's overreaction to her pregnancy. And the added weight of her stomach wasn't helping things. Getting up from the couch was a task all its own. She became tired and weak just as soon as she got up; not that she was about to admit that to anyone. Jimmy was already calling home every hour to check on her while Bart constantly stopped in 'just to say hi,' which in Bart-speak meant to check on her.

Much as she joked that the team and Jimmy were all being ridiculous about everything, she had to admit she was thankful when the time came. Bart arrived just minutes after Jimmy called and she told him she was having back pains. And when Bart too agreed that she should see a doctor, she gave in. She was at the hospital in ten seconds flat thanks to her speedy friend and when she called Jimmy to tell him she was in labor, Bart did her a favor and picked up her husband from the DP, dropping him off with her at the hospital.

Twelve hours later, she was beginning to think she might as well have stayed on the couch awhile longer and finished the Supernatural marathon on TV. Those Winchester boys were good looking. Hey, married and pregnant or not, she still had eyes. If she wasn't in the middle of giving birth, she might just ask Jimmy to turn on the TV and angle it in her direction. If anything could make her feel like she'd had a normal life, it was watching the Winchester boys and their adventures.

"Focus, Chloe! You've gotta push now!" the doctor said, drawing her attention.

Illogically, she replied, "Why don't _you?_"

She blamed it on exhaustion, really. She was much smarter and snarkier when she hadn't undergone so many hours of birth, but at the moment all she really wanted was a long nap, ice cream and pickles, and her cousin Lois next to her so they could ogle the hotness that was the Winchester brothers. Instead, she had Jimmy's hand in hers and an impatient doctor telling her to push.

Sniffling, she looked up at her husband. "I know you think I'm strong, but Jimmy… I'm weak as a kitten right now."

He squeezed her hand, leaning down to look at her, eyes wide and sincere. "In Chloe Sullivan terms, you're still stronger than anybody else, all right? You can _do _this, Chloe. Just… Just push! One more, come on!"

She loved him, she did; but if he thought he was getting a second kid later in life, he was so wrong.

Taking in a deep breath, she _pushed_. She pushed until her entire body screamed in pain; until her chest ached while she ignored air. As her skin flushed pink with the effort and sweat burned her eyes. Hand squeezing Jimmy's while the other gripped the metal sidebar, she yelled hoarsely.

"Good! Good! Just one more, Chloe!" the doctor said, grinning.

She glared at him darkly. Oh god, she was going to kill that man if he told her that one more time. He kept saying that and still there was another; how many 'one more's' did he think she'd fall for?

Head falling back to the sweat soaked pillow, she panted sharply, shaking her head. "I can't… I _can't_…"

Jimmy nodded, staring down at her with those blue eyes of his, so supporting, so loving. She really hoped their son had his eyes; his kindness and thoughtfulness. She smiled suddenly, a faint turn of his lips. "It's okay," Jimmy told her, lifting her hand to his mouth.

"It is?" she asked, brows furrowed. Because she was pretty sure it _wasn't_.

"Sure." He grinned. "We'll keep him in there, let him ruminate a bit. Maybe when he comes out, we'll have missed the terrible two's that I hear actually happen around three and if we're really lucky, he'll be past puberty and that awkward stage." He winked at her. "It's easy street after that."

She snorted and then broke out into a full laugh. A smile split her face and for a moment she just felt… strong. Like, maybe, she could really do this. Because yes, missing the terribly two's/three's would be nice, if a little impossible, but… If one more push got their son out and in their arms, she could do that. She could gather what little strength she had left; hidden away in her Sullivan reserves for moments just like this and get this baby out of her. Because as much agony and frustration as he was causing her, she already loved him. He was an extension of her and Jimmy and just as soon as she had him in her arms she knew he would be the most precious being _alive_.

"Okay… Okay, I can do this," she decided, nodding.

"Yeah?"

She rolled her eyes up at him. "As if I have a choice." Licking her dry lips, she grabbed the railings again. "One more doc," she told him through clenched teeth.

"One more," he agreed.

Hands curling tight around the metal rails, she inhaled deeply and bared down. She ignored the way her entire body seemed to burn like it was on fire. She pushed past the pain that riddled her every pore. She just pushed; she pushed herself, she pushed toward the future, she pushed until she heard the cry. Until the doctor nodded at her, and then she pushed again, until he had her son and there was no more pressure, no more impatient voices telling her she had more to do. And she fell back to the bed, beyond exhausted, faintly listening while her son cried, while feet scuttled to and fro to clean him up for her.

Jimmy leaned down, burying his face in her shoulder. "You did it… You did it," he said emotionally, stroking her cheek.

She cried a little then, tears slipping out the corners of her eyes. She was happy, she was tired, she was grateful. Because it was hard – quite possibly the hardest thing she'd ever done – but this baby was hers and Jimmy's. He'd given this to her. Something she'd never really had the time to think about before. Too busy chasing dreams and running away from the danger she'd gotten herself into, she never thought she'd have this. A husband like Jimmy; a man who loved her, who would always fight for her, who understood her in ways she wasn't sure anybody _could_ until he came along. And now a family of her own; a son, a baby boy that she loved before ever truly setting eyes on.

"Here he is," a nurse said, walking toward them. "Baby Olsen." With a grin, she laid him down in Chloe's arms and even though her entire body felt like a leaden weight, Chloe managed to wrap her arms around him as he wiggled in his pale blue blanket.

Drawing the fabric down so she could see his face, Chloe stared down at the screwed up expression that met hers; it was flushed with the same frustration as her own with a tiny nose and his eyes half-closed. "He's perfect," she breathed throatily.

"He's ours," Jimmy reached out to touch their sons head and grinned, blinking quickly to rid his own eyes of tears. "Of course he's perfect."

She chuckled. "Ego much?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Just fact." He winked at her again and rolled her eyes, even as her chest bloomed with affection. Looking back down at the son, she sighed. She could do with a few days of sleep, but for right now, it was all so worth it. Eight months of pregnancy, the sore, swollen feet, the nausea, the watchful and overprotective friends, and the last twelve hours of agony… All for this little guy.

"Do we have a name picked out?" the nurse asked.

Sniffling, Chloe nodded. "Henry," she replied, stroking her son's cheek. "Henry Gabriel Olsen."

Jimmy grinned at her, nodding.

Left alone once more, he squeezed her hand in his. "Just for the record… I told you so."

She snorted. "That the baby was coming early or that I could really do this?"

He smirked. "You're right… My track record speaks for itself. I'm a genius," he sighed, arrogantly.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head, looking down at their son. "Try and inherit my modesty, hey Henry?"

Jimmy scoffed. "Are we ignoring how you get when you've been hacking?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Until he sees that for himself, it's my one and only secret flaw."

Chuckling, he just stared on at his family; proud, thankful, _complete_.


End file.
